...for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring,[c] heirs according to the promise.

Galatians 3: 26-29

Dear Lord, bring me through darkness into light. Bring me through pain into peace. Bring me through death into life. Be with me wherever I go, and with everyone I love. In Christ’s name I ask it. Amen.

This prayer was written by Frederick Buechner (The Eyes of the Heart) at the request of his brother who was dying of cancer. Buechner, Presbyterian Pastor, Poet, Teacher, Novelist and Humorist died in August.

This Sunday you will hear two special pieces. The service will open with a beautiful prelude called There is No Fear in Love by Steffany Gretzinger, sung by Wendy Wellington, and accompanied by her talented daughter, Brittany, on cello, and myself on piano. Gretzinger is a member of the group "Bethel Music", and this piece was released on her solo album in 2014. This song has a simple melody that will stay with you all week. The ethereal sounds of the cello and piano are a perfect combination to the lyrics being sung:  

Stir in me a love that's deep

A love that's wide, a love that's sweet

And help me, Lord

To never keep it to myself

And if my heart should dimly burn

And if my feet should fail to run

Call my name and I will come right back to You

… 'Cause there's no fear in love

And there's no fear in love

The choir will sing a beautiful offertory in Hebrew, called Sim Shalom. This piece was written around the theme "Prayers for Peace" and it translates to "Grant peace, goodness and blessing to us and unto all Israel, your people". The melody is reminiscent of music that one would hear in a Hebrew morning service. We will be accompanied by Paula Sparks on the piano.  

With love,

Rebecca

Director of Music

rechols@arkanddove.org

YTD Expected Unpledged Income $41,666

YTD Actual Unpledged Income $16,694

Behind $24,972

YTD Expected Pledged & Electronic Giving $426,180

YTD Actual Pledged & Electronic Giving $421,203

Behind $4,977

Bob and Shirley Fuller will be presenting Caring for Creation Today at Prince of Peace Presbyterian Church in Crofton, MD on Sunday, November 6th at 12:00pm. Arkive and Dove members are invited to attend. For more information, click the link below.

Caring for Creation Today Information



How Close Can You Get?

Mask required at 9:00 am Worship, Mask Optional at 10:30 am Worship

Previous Episodes

2 October

Join Guest Host Michelle Schoonmaker interview a member of the Associate Pastor Nominating Team (APTN), Jim Cooper, as they discuss the upcoming APTN listening sessions.

18 September

Join this week's Lobby guest host Lilly as she interviews Amy Tardiff as they discuss and experience what it's like to take part in a Godly Play class. Anyone interested in teaching Godly Play? Please contact Sara Fox.

 Ark & Dove Grounds-Work Day 

Refugee Resettlement: Abawi Family

The Ark and Dove and Annapolis Presbyterian churches were blessed to hold a meet and greet dinner here at Ark and Dove last Saturday. It was wonderful to have our refugee resettlement teams gather together to celebrate the Abawi family.

Debbie Arey, Ark & Dove's Refugee Resettlement leader, and Mary Stuart Kempton, Annapolis team leader

Donations Needed

As the Abawi family settle into their new home, we can then concentrate on the many other ways we can support this family. 

Clothing Donation

In need of donations of men’s casual clothing size large. Please contact Debbie Arey at debarey@hotmail.com. 

Your Gifts and Offerings: Love In Action

1 John 4:19 "We love because he first loved us."

Have you ever wondered if our financial gifts to Ark and Dove are making a difference in how we show love in our community and beyond? From what I’ve observed in my 2 1/2 years in this congregations, the answer is a resounding YES! 

At Ark and Dove, we’re given so many opportunities to share God’s love, and be Jesus’ hands and feet in the world. Our financial gifts and offerings are a big part of that. Whether through Pledged or Unpledged Giving, or mission specific giving, the positive impact of our financial gifts is felt in our church, community and beyond. I don’t know about you, but this brings me a lot of joy. 

Several ways your gifts and offerings have been at work:

*The replacement of our Anti-racism banner after several vandalism incidents and purchasing security cameras. Through this, our neighbors can see our dedication to declaring our stance.

*Assisting our Afghan refugee family, the Abawis, with paid internet and cell phone bills for several months, and essential tools to help them find jobs and become independent.

*Providing food on a monthly basis for weekend food bags given out to local students through the Backpack Buddies program.

*Providing a $5000 donation to The Lighthouse Homeless Prevention Support Center, directed for use in West County. 

Ensuring that you have provided a written pledge is essential to helping Ark and Dove continue to plan how bright and wide to shine Jesus’ light and love in our neighborhood and beyond. If you are a regular giver but have never filled out a pledge card, please consider doing so. Our annual Stewardship Effort, which is held in the Fall every year and is rapidly approaching once again, provides a great opportunity to prayerfully consider what your estimate of giving to Ark and Dove will be for the upcoming year. We always include a new pledge card in the annual stewardship brochure that will be mailed to each residence in November, so be on the look-out for more information to follow soon! Pledges are not contracts and can be changed at any time if your circumstances change. However, our pledges are important because they help the Session at Ark at Dove properly plan our mission and ministry activities for the year to come. Every pledge matters! Thank you for your continued dedication and generosity in sharing God’s love.

Shirley Fuller & The 2023 Renewed in God Stewardship Team



New at the Ark & Dove Library

The Ark and Dove Library is pleased to announce two really cool donations recently gifted to us by Connie Batts. The first is called My God Today: 365 Devotions For People Who Might Be A Lil Ratchet (But God Knows Your Heart) by Dr. Lori Alyse Croom. She has written 365 days of spiritual enrichment based on the Bible and some of her favorite hip-hop anthems. The reviews for this book are enthusiastic about it being a great devotional book for people are don’t normally like devotionals.

And if that isn’t enough, Connie also bought for us…

God Be Knowin': 365 Devotions For People Who Are As Undefeated As Al Green's Internet. In this book, Dr. Croom takes 365 words, phrases, and hashtags commonly found on the Internet and use them to extract daily devotional messages that are inspirational and life changing. By the way, the confusion of Al Gore with the Reverend Al Green is fun and intentional.

Both of these books can be found in the Prayer and Devotions section of the library. If you’d like to read a little about them first, check them out in our online catalog.